By Helena Rodriguez, PNT Staff Writer The city of Portales wants to see more people downtown: Shopping, congregating, walking, bicycling, eating and even living downtown. It’s all part of a master plan to make the downtown area more walkable, shopable and livable. The master plan and downtown zoning code was presented to a crowd of […]

By Tom Philpott The Bush administration has endorsed a House bill that would improve the Montgomery GI Bill (MGIB) education benefits in several ways including with a 31 percent jump in monthly benefits and a new $500-a-month stipend to help cover college living expenses. The administration’s aim is not only to improve veterans’ benefits in […]

By Kevin Wilson: Freedom New Mexico There were two things Duward Moon hated to see — a home appliance that didn’t work and a veteran who didn’t belong to a Veterans of Foreign Wars post. He spent his free time fixing both. The Vietnam veteran and repairman died March 31 at age 61. Born Jan. […]

By Helena Rodriguez I see the little black dress dangling from a hanger in my daughter’s closet. I see the shimmering rhinestones making an elegant pattern across the otherwise bare back. I close my eyes and sense memories it will hold: Memories of prom … Laura’s senior-year prom. On Saturday night, my hita goes to […]

By Anita Doberman Children ask all sorts of embarrassing questions and sometimes put us on the spot. This weekend, I had a lot of explaining to do when we visited New Orleans. I went with my five children and my teenage babysitter — naturally hubby still deployed. We thought that it would be fun to […]

By Karl Terry: PNT Managing Editor Candidates for two of the four open Portales City Council seats didn’t appear to have any real sharp differences on most issues facing the city during a forum held Monday at the Memorial Building. City council candidates challenger Michael Martinez and incumbent Gary Watkins in Ward B and incumbent […]

By Thomas Garcia: Freedom New Mexico So just how much do you know about the presidents we honor on Presidents’ Day? Many of today’s youth might not know that at one time the nation used to observe both George Washington’s and Abraham Lincoln’s birthday in February. However, Donald “Doc” Elder, a professor of history at […]

By Eric Butler: PNT Correspondent Lawrence Baker knew he needed help to kick his drug habit. He found the structure and incentive he needed through the 9th Judicial Drug Court program. “I had tried to quit on my own before, through N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous),” Baker said. “But the steady regimen of (Drug Court) is what […]

By Joan Clayton When our youngest son Lane and his wife came to see us when their daughters were small they sometimes went home at night. They dressed their little girls for bed, and after the goodbye hugs and kisses, they tucked them in their “car” bed and drove the two hours home. My granddaughters […]

Karl Terry, Portales News-Tribune Managing Editor This week Lt. Gen. Donald C. Wurster, recently appointed commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla., paid his first official visit to Cannon Air Force Base since taking command in November. He talked with Freedom New Mexico Wednesday in his first press interview since assuming that […]

Clovis native Hank Baskett recently finished his second season with the Philadelphia Eagles: On being back in Clovis: There’s no place like home. It’s always great to see friends and family. You can never get enough of friends and family. On being named special teams player of the year by the Eagles: It did help. […]

By Baxter Black Hunter S. Thompson, in his book “Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas,” said, “Circus, Circus (a big casino in Las Vegas) is what the world would be like if the Third Reich had won!” Las Vegas is the equivalent of endlessly switching the cable channel on your television anytime between midnight and […]

By Mickey Winfield: PNT Staff Writer Portales’ police will be protecting and serving this Christmas holiday, but they’ll also be making hundreds of area children smile on Christmas morning. The Portales Police Department is once again providing toys and Christmas presents for needy Portales children and families through Operation: Santa Cop. Through the program, the […]

By Joan Clayton The approaching holidays remind me of the angels who brought the “good tidings of great joy” to the shepherds in the field. Many references about angels are found in the Bible. They can be traced from Genesis to Revelation. Angels are supernatural beings sent by God. They are God’s messengers. Psalm 91:11 […]

PNT Staff Report Plans for a new elementary school in Portales, approved by voters in October, are on track according to school administration officials. School board members met on Monday in a special meeting to give their approval for notice of the sale of $4.5 million in bonds. The sale is scheduled to take place […]

By Sharna Johnson: Freedom New Mexico Everywhere he goes, people gawk and take pictures of his car. But James “Woodstock” Laljer didn’t cover his 1974 Ford LTD with stuffed animals to get attention. He did it for his wife. “My wife is exactly 5 feet tall,” he said, explaining she always complained she couldn’t find […]

By Kevin WIlson: Freedom New Mexico I was closing out my treadmill session at the gym a few weeks ago, and I saw something I couldn’t stay silent about. There was somebody parking his truck in the handicapped spot in front of the gym. Without a handicapped plaque visible in his cab. While walking in […]

By Tonya Fennell: Cannon Connections I am a believer in the old proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. I welcome the school’s input (to a point) on my son’s academic life and the daycare’s tips on how to break my daughter from the pacifier. However, I don’t appreciate random strangers trying […]

By Casey Peacock: PNT Staff Writer Community members, business owners and officials met for a design session Saturday morning as part of the Portales Downtown Plan. During the session, participants were able to break into small groups and lay out designs they envisioned for the downtown area. Most groups agreed that the area needed to […]

By Joan Clayton: Religion Columnist I feel a tug at my heart. By this time, I would have all my bulletin boards up, all my students’ names on the desks, all my lessons planned and would have prayed for a successful year. Why do I miss teaching school so much? I miss those little shiny […]